Some notes on waxing hard cheeses

[patandchickens]

After reading the waxing webpage that someone (sylvie?) recommended me on my last cheese thread, I have re-entered the world of cheese waxing with considerably more success. The first ones I did are now about a month old and looking great despite being in the moldy basement, I have done a couple more batches since then, including just now. So as I sit here trying to pick congealed wax outta my fingernails <g>, I thought I would share some of the things that I think I've learned:

-- get the wax to 200-210 F, no more and no less. Cooler and it does not kill mold spores; hotter and it does not go on well (melts the previous coating [you need to do a couple layers]) plus getting closer to being a fire hazard. I use an old pot and candy thermometer, and just leave the wax in them to harden afterwards until next time.

-- after the wax is just about hot enough, turn off the burner and put a great big piece of tinfoil down on the burner/stove before returning wax pot to burner. This makes cleanup EVER so much easier. Big time.

-- wear old clothes that you can cope iwth getting wax stains on (ironing between pressing-clothes will "sort of" get the wax out, but for me it is far from fully effective)

-- it is real hard for me to wax a small, 1-lb cheese, because there is so little to hold onto. While the wax is not so hot you'd burn yourself by accidentlaly getting some on your fingertips, neither do you want to be intentionally plunging your fingers into it; and once you've got that first dip on, it becomes MUCH harder to keep your grip on a small cheese. No, tongs do not help.

-- I have had very very poor luck trying to brush wax on with a brush, no matter what some sources may advise. Ends up lumpy, 'skippy' and gappy.

-- I have had best results when the cheese to be waxed was at cool room temperature, not refrigerated.

Not that I really knwo what I'm doing, but those are things I wish someone had told ME a lot sooner and so I pass them along in case they are of use to someone else

Oh, and the other cheese-related epiphany I've had, courtesy of advice from the nice lady on the other end of the phone at www.glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca, is that the reason my cheeses were all turning out very crumbly and dry was that I was either adding too much starter or letting them culture too long, and thus ending up with a too-acid material. (I really GOT to get some pH dip strips...). My cheeses since then have been much better, judging by the fresh curds anyhow. In case *that* helps anyone, either

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Iceblink]

Thanks Pat, that's all helpful. I brushed the wax on my cheeses last summer, and they were gappy and chunky. I thought it was just me.

Edited for mis-spelling.

 

[freemotion]

Thanks for the tips, Pat! Can't wait to try them.

I did not have trouble brushing the wax on my cheeses. I used a natural bristle paint brush, and melted the wax in a stainless steel mixing bowl (smallish, dedicated to this, and the wax stored in it after) over a pan of simmering water. I put on two or three thin coats, and kept the wax hot enough to go on smoothly. I would have to hold the brush firmly against the side of the bowl now and then, because the wax would build up near the ferrule of the brush.

Pat, are you making goat or cow cheese? My goat cheddar is
"powdery" and I wonder if that is the problem....too much acidity. Or if that is just how goat's milk behaves. It still tastes good, but does not melt nicely.

 

[patandchickens]

Pat, are you making goat or cow cheese? My goat cheddar is "powdery" and I wonder if that is the problem....too much acidity. Or if that is just how goat's milk behaves. It still tastes good, but does not melt nicely.

I am making cow cheese b/c you don't even want to KNOW what a quart of goat milk costs at the store around here And I won't have milkable sheep til next year (well, *maybe* one that I can squeeze a teeny bit out of in a couple months, I dunno, still negotiating )

So I dunno bout your goat cheese. But it seems like it would at least be worth *trying* not letting it acidify as much while culturing, see what happens. Then tell me, cuz I wanna know too

Pat

 

[Farmfresh]

You are using store milk for your cheese? Any tips on how to do that?

The few times I have tried with store milk the curd was small and grainy and I had poor results.

Ready to learn from those of you who got the skills!

 

[patandchickens]

My understanding is that it depends entirely on your milk. Brands that are pasteurized too hot won't work, nor milk that's been sitting on the shelf too long.

I buy my milk from a local dairy co-op that uses a longer lower-temp pasteurization and it's pretty fresh, and while obviously it would be BETTER if I had a cow (uh, better cheese, not necessarily better for me 'the person who does all the work around here' LOL), this milk is doing respectably for me. Perhaps you could find a source like that in your area?

(e.t.a. - also I add calcium chloride solution, an equal amount as the rennet)

Pat

 

[freemotion]

Commercially pasteurized milk won't make decent cheese without the addition of calcium chloride because the processing destroys the structure of the calcium molecules. So you have to add calcium. I learned this from a newsletter from New England Cheesemaking Supply.

Storebought dairy products are thus not a good source of dietary calcium.

 

[Farmfresh]

Makes sense.